Chimney Swifts
Ways to Learn about Endangered Chimney Swifts
Chimney swifts are a threatened species in Canada and an endangered species in Nova Scotia.
Fewer than 1000 individual birds live in the Maritime Provinces. The population in Nova Scotia is declining rapidly. So says the Species at Risk website.
Historically, chimney swifts built their nests in hollow, old trees. As humans cut down the trees, they moved their nesting sites into chimneys.
Their current habitat still includes old hollow trees, but now they can also be found in chimneys (active or abandoned), barns (more and more being discovered), air shafts and silos.
Often Chimney Swifts are living in chimneys of abandoned buildings, as was the case in Wolfville. When Chimney Swifts were discovered living there, the old factory was torn down, leaving the chimney behind for the swifts. This was the creation of the Robie Tufts Nature Centre.
In addition to protecting the swifts’ habitat and providing people with the opportunity to observe their spectacular antics, this interpretative centre seeks to promote awareness of and interest in local natural history and the environment.
To help bring awareness to the plight of the Chimney Swifts, the Blomidon Naturalists’ Society in conjunction with the Maritimes Swiftwatch program of Bird Studies Canada and the Nova Scotia Bird Society puts on an annual event called a Swift Night Out.
People gather in Wolfville on the last weekend in July to learn about the Chimney Swifts, and then to watch the birds circle around the chimney before finally making their descent into the chimney. It is quite a spectacle to watch, even if you don’t come to the Swift Night Out. Roosting timecan be anywhere from 30 min before sunset to a half hour after. This is usually around 9pm in the summer months.
This year, there was a kid zone where children could learn about the Chimney Swifts, too.
First was the Chimney Swift obstacle course. Children had to get from one end to the other, encountering some of the dangers that a Chimney Swift might encounter on its migration. These dangers include:
Not finding insects
Cars
Chimney sweepers who have brushed away their nests
Cellular towers
Predators like foxes and racoons
Forest Fires, logging/forestry
The kids loved this activity! It was a great hands-on way to learn about the Chimney Swift!
I set up a craft table.
Children could make their own flying Chimney Swift cut from black construction paper and put together with glue and tape.
I used the instructions found here.
This craft was a bit tricky for younger children, so they needed a lot of guidance. But, it worked well as children were flitting between the obstacle course, the educational talks and the craft table.
Take time to educate yourself and your family about these incredible birds!
Hope to see you next year at a Swift Night Out!
Randall House Museum Wolfville
Randall House Museum, Wolfville
Our family spent a wonderful afternoon at the Randall House Museum in Wolfville.
The Randall House Museum is operated by the Wolfville Historical Society. It is referred to as Wolfville’s Community Museum.
According to the Town of Wolfville’s website, the Randall House is a historic Horton farmhouse (circa 1800) and a community museum that reflects the way of life in Wolfville and its surrounding area in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Randall family owned the house for three generations before being opened to the public in May 1949. Now, the 200-year-old traditional colonial dwelling gives a glimpse into the lives of the Randall family and the many other inhabitants of this quaint farmhouse.
It displays the details of domestic and business life, and the contributions made by some of Wolfville’s leading families, farmers, merchants, artists, and clergy.
We headed to the museum on a Saturday afternoon to take in the weekly afternoon tea (more later). Along with the tea, comes a free tour of the museum.
Mercedes, our tour guide, met us at the door and started our tour of the museum.
The kids were given scavenger hunt of questions to answer and objects to find within the museum.
However, the kids were so enthralled with the tour of the museum that they totally forgot to fill in their sheets.
Mercedes was an incredible guide, telling great stories about the history of Wolfville and about the artefacts within the museum. She was so great with the kids and even showed them inside cupboards and under the stairs.
The kids loved the trip to the attic to see the haunted mannequin, Legs, and the vast array of artefacts on display. This was their favourite part of the visit!
The tour lasted about an hour, and we could have spent more time looking at all the artefacts and photographs. There is so much to learn and appreciate about our own area.
After our visit, we went to the dining room for an afternoon tea.
Here’s what the website says about the teas:
Randall House Museum, holds afternoon teas every Saturday from 2pm to 5pm! Come to 259 Main Street to enjoy elegant British afternoon tea in an authentic dining room circa 1809. Drink from our matching tea sets, and delight in the period-appropriate finger sandwiches and baked goods. Entrance is only $5, and comes with a complementary tour of the museum.
And, if you are unable to attend on a Saturday afternoon, contact them, and make arrangements for another day of the week (except for Mondays when they are closed).
The kids loved the tea party! They drank milky tea, had biscuits and jam, and an array of other sweets.
The tea was surprisingly good, said Daniel!
This is a great place for kids to be introduced to a British Tea, as it isn’t too formal, yet they can drink from tea cups and have dainty sandwiches and icecream in pretty bowls!
These tea parties run until August 29, 2015, and are definitely worth a visit with the kids, even if you don’t have time to have a full museum tour.
Hours & Admission
The museum is open from May 30th to September 7th.
The hours are 10:00 – 5:00 Tuesday to Saturday and 1:00 – 5:00 on Sunday.
They are closed on Monday
Admission is free or by donation
Randall House is located at 259 Main Street Wolfville
Please take time to visit our local museums, appreciate our history and learn a thing or two! You will be glad you did!
Tancook Island Family Fun
Tancook Island
“That was one of the best days, ever!”
The boys cannot stop raving about our trip to Tancook Island!
Little do they remember, we actually took a family trip to the Island 4 years ago, but being so little, they didn’t remember it all. I have no doubt they will remember this trip!
The idea to go to Tancook Island was actually my father’s plan. His friend and former colleague, Kendra operates a few businesses on Tancook (more later) and convinced him to come out for the day, and he convinced us!
Tancook Island
Big Tancook Island is located approximately 6 miles off the coast of Chester, Nova Scotia. It measures approximately 4 km long and 1.6 km wide, forming roughly a “C” shape. There are about 112 people living full time on the Island. When you count the part-timers and weekend residents you can double that number.
Getting There
The Ferry to Tancook leaves from Chester.
The ferry leaves from Water Street on a predetermined schedule.
You cannot take your car on the ferry, but you can take a bicycle.
There is long term parking along Water Street, or several 12 hour parking lots indicated on the map.
The cost is $7 each (children 12 and under are free) for a round-trip voyage. Cash only. (STC)
The regular ferry to Tancook is getting repaired so there is a “bus ferry” now. Climb on board the bus to sit as you make the crossing. Always an adventure in Nova Scotia!
The ferry ride takes 50 minutes, first stopping at Little Tancook Island (where you can get off, too) and then heading over to Big Tancook Island.
Getting around the Island
When we stepped off the ferry, someone was there handing out maps of the island, which were incredibly helpful! It lists all the key points of interest and the washrooms.
When we went 4 years ago, we walked around the Island, but with small children, we didn’t see much (but enjoyed what we did see!). My sister and brother-in-law did walk the Island easily this time, but we knew the kids wouldn’t be able to handle that much walking, so we brought their bikes.
Bike rentals
My dad and I rented bikes from Brass Bell Café & Bicycle Rentals. When you come off the ferry and look up the hill to the left, you can easily see where to go. Just follow the big BIKES sign.
New : The bike share is still available – RIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK! Brass Bell Bicycle Rentals is not renting bikes or taking reservations until the business finds new, affordable insurance coverage! You can borrow bikes for a donation.
Dad’s friends Kendra and Patrick greeted us at the bike rental and gave us some great advice of where we should go during the day.
The bikes are very high quality, and I loved the baskets on the front! They do have bike helmets, but we brought our own from home.
Biking around the Island, was by far the best way to discover the Island.
Exploring the Island
Our first stop was a picnic in the park above the docks.
Luckily, it came with its very own stocks to help control unruly children!
We started our journey by biking down to the North end of the Island to get a view of Little Tancook Island.
This goes by Norma’s Treasure Chest shop, one of the gift shops on the Island, full of some new and previously loved items.
From the North End, we headed back to the centre of the Island and stopped to meet one of the Island’s favourite characters: Ruby at the Sea Myst Gift Shop!
Ruby is a 3-year old pig (with painted toenails) who stays at the Sea Myst Gift Shop on the waterfront. Stop to feed Ruby, take a moment to sit on the dock, and check out the amazing jewellery and clothes in the shop!
The road to the left leads to the elementary school and its small playground. There is also a tourist centre and a shelter in case it rains!
We headed straight up the hill to the opposite side of the Island. This took us 10-15 minutes to get to the other side by bikes (or 30mins by walking).
Be sure to stop at the Wishing Stones Gallery & Museum. They have wonderful art and a great collection of old-fashioned artifacts.
The owners are so friendly and great to stop and talk to!
The Southeast Cove is the swimming spot on the Island.
The cove is very shallow and sandy, making it warm and safe to swim.
Some of the Island children left their boats for the boys to play with.
Thomas and I scoured the beach and ended up with fistfuls of seaglass!
No visit to the Island is complete without stopping at Caroyln’s Restaurant for an ice cream. Be wary, there are lots of rules in here, and you are left wondering why the owner has decided to work with the public, but it’s all part of the experience!
What the Kids Say
The Island is bigger than you think it would be.
You should bring your bikes. You could walk it if you really like walking, but biking is more fun. Especially going down the hills!
I really liked Ruby the pig, because she was the only domestic pig I have ever seen! I even got a job exercising the pig!
I liked getting icecream and going to the beach. I liked kayaking on the beach.
Further information on accommodations, points of interest, places to eat and shop, and information about the Island can be found on the Tancook website.
Tancook Island is definitely Family Fun and a place you should add to your bucket list!
Ripley’s Believe it or Not, Cavendish, PEI
Ripley’s Believe it or Not, Cavendish, PEI
** This is not a sponsored post. I had a difficult time finding a review of the museum, so I wrote one!**
When we went to PEI earlier in the summer, we debated about taking the kids to Ripley’s Believe it or Not in Cavendish.
It’s touristy and a bit expensive.
But, was it worth a visit? I had a hard time finding any reviews. We decided to risk it and go. I am so glad that we did!
My boys are 7 and 9 years old. They love reading the Guinness Book of World Records books, and I had recently found them a Ripley’s Believe it or Not fact book at a used book sale! They love interesting facts and the strange and unusual. So, naturally, they loved the Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum.
The Ripley’s Museum is full of strange and unusual things. Apparently, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! is a franchise, founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims.
As you walk through the museum, there are 14 rooms full of weird and wonderful things.
A giant bear made out of nails.
A horse made from driftwood.
Giant robots made from trash.
Writing on rice.
And even a section of the Berlin Wall!
Throughout the museum, there are many interactive displays for the kids to touch and manipulate. This is great for my boys who must touch everything and find “roped off” museums stressful (or maybe it’s me who is stressed!)
Every exhibit has a short write up about it. So, you can take your time reading each one, or also walk through with busy kids to get the feeling.
By far, the boys loved the display about Robert Wadlow, the tallest man in history (8’11”). There was a wax model of him as well as one of his shoes!
There are some exhibits in the museum that might be scary for preschool or sensitive children.
Hours and Admission
Adults: $12.99
Youth: $7.99
Family pass: $34.99
Ripley’s is open May to September, but primarily in July and August.
Combo Tickets
Also on site is Wax World Stars and Mariner’s Cove mini golf.
Combination tickets for all 3 sites are available.
We really enjoyed our trip to Ripley’s Believe it or Not and are glad we went the once. This will not be a yearly visit for us, but I can definitely see us going again when the kids are older and have forgotten their first visit!
Grand Pre National Historic Site
Grand Pre National Historic Site
**Disclosure: I received a family pass in exhchange for this blog post. All opinions are our own. My aim is to encourage more families to become tourists in their own backyards**
Upon driving past the Grand Pre National Historic Site earlier in the summer, I realized I had never taken the kids to the museum. In fact, we had never talked about the history of the Acadians, nor the expulsion of 1755.
I am also embarrassed to say that since the new interpretation site was built, I had only been once to the centre. As children, we often went to the park for a picnic, wandered the site, and needless to say, one of us always fell in the pond reaching for a frog (usually my sister).
I realized that the boys were old enough to learn this important part of our local history.
Before our visit
Before going to Grand Pre, we talked a lot about the Acadians and the wars with the British. We told them that they built the dykes (where we walk the dogs) and showed them the reclaimed fields.
On our way to the Historic site, we stopped at the new historic view point at the top of Old Post Road where there is an incredible view of Grand Pre.
Then, we followed the signs to Horton Landing which took us to a memorial site from where the Acadians were shipped off in boats, and also where the New England Planters arrived.
All of this preparation was nice for the boys, but not necessary, as all of this is wonderfully explained at the museum!
Our visit
Daniel (9) helped write this section about our visit.
When we arrived at the Museum, we got our Xplorer books.
The Xplorer program, designed for children aged 6 to 11 and their families, encourages discovery through fun and recreational activities.
The Xplorer was full of activities and places you had to go and look up or do things within the Museum. At the end if you did 5 pages, you got an Xplorer necklace tag.
Guided Tour
The museum tour was about 45 minutes long. Maddie, our tour guide, took us through the museum. She talked about the history of Acadie (or Nova Scotia). She showed us how the French Acadians made the dykes.
We also went to the Church to see the statue of Evangeline and heard her story. “Chirpy” our library friend came, too!
What I liked the best about the tour was that I learned how to make salt on the marshes and dykes.
I liked dressing up in the old-fashioned Acadian clothes. I think it would be hard to wear these clothes every day because they are hard to get on!
Then we went to the blacksmith shop. We played a game with a wooden wheel. It was really hard!
This tour is best suited for children aged 6 and older so they can understand the stories and the history.
Video
At the end of our tour, we watched a 20-minute video about the history of the Acadians. I liked how they had different characters talking on both sides of the screen.
This video can be watched before or after your visit to the museum. Daniel said that what was in the video solidified what he learned in the Museum, but would also act as a good introduction.
Hours of Operation
May 15 to October 12
Open daily from 9 am to 5 pm
Fees:
Adult: $7.80
Youth: $3.90
Family pass: $19.60
Overall
The boys really liked going to the Grand Pre National Historic Site! The Xplorers activities made it really interesting. This really engaged the kids and helped them better understand the history of the Acadians.
Bring a picnic to have in the park, or just come and spend a few hours exploring.
There are so many hands-on activities for the kids that makes the Grand Pre National Historic Site a great place to visit with your family!
